The setting for Aspinwall author Martha Reed’s new book may be Nantucket, but there is a Pittsburgh feel to her mystery story.

“The Choking Game” is on sale through local bookstores and online. Reed will celebrate the book’s release from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 14, with an event at Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont.

The book, the first in the “John and Sarah Jarad Nantucket Mystery” series is about a stalker who terrorizes women on the island in Massachusetts. One of the characters, Sarah, is an artist from Carnegie Mellon University who is on the run.

Reed says readers have become eager to learn about places like Pittsburgh in literature. The Sarah character has “Pittsburghisms,” she says, including wanting a cookie table at a wedding.

“People are more willing, and they want to learn about Pittsburgh,” Reed says.

When writing mystery novels, Reed says she aims to keep the reader guessing until the end. She knows that can be difficult, because mystery fans are always looking for the twist in the story.

“It has the two lines going — what you think is happening and what is actually happening,” Reed says.

Reed is a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a crime-fiction writing group. Other members of the group will be on hand to celebrate her book’s release. “The Choking Game” follows a short-story collection and her participation in the Sisters in Crime’s story collection.

Reed says she is hoping for a big turnout at her book-launch event.

“It’s going to be a bash. It’s going to be so much fun,” Reed said.

Tom McGee is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-856-7400, ext. 1513, or tmcgee@tribweb.com.

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